Technological Innovations Westward Expansion Technological Innovations

Georgia Agriculture After the American Revolution Tobacco Cotton

Tobacco was ruining the soil in GA

Cotton was not a good crop to grow There were tiny seeds inside the bolls that were difficult to remove.

Eli Whitney Was a Northern visiting Mrs. Catherine Green Miller at Mulberry Grove Plantation near Savannah, Georgia Heard farmers talking about problems with deseeding cotton

Cotton Gin Whitney “invented” it to comb the seeds out of the cotton 50 pounds could now be processed a day

Impact of the Cotton Gin The South became dependent upon one crop

Impact of the Cotton Gin Southern farmers began to grow more cotton They needed more people to help them plant and harvest it— MORE SLAVES

Railroads Businessmen in Athens, GA wanted a better and faster way to transport cotton to market in Augusta By the 1840s and 1850s, GA had the most railroad tracks in the Deep South

Western and Atlantic Railroad Owned most of the rail lines in Georgia Ran from Chattanooga, TN to the Southeast bank of the Chattahoochee River End point was called Terminus (end of the railroad line)

Terminus Stores, hotels, and other businesses grew around the railroad hub The city was later renamed Atlanta